David Corn says Mike Vreeland is just a con man, with no connections to the U.S. Military at all. David Corn admits in his Nation article that there is some evidence (actual Corn excerpts are below):

Yet, Vreeland is still a con man, according to both The Nation and Norman Solomon of FAIR. How? David Corn has a conspiracy theory:

David Corn, by his own words, claims that Vreeland was lucky about the knowledge concerning the Canadian diplomat. Also, Vreeland was either lucky with correct details on his pre-911 prison guard note, or tricked the prison guards into thinking they received it before 9-11. The final key to the David Corn conspiracy theory is that Mike Vreeland somehow tricked the Pentagon into thinking that he was an employee before the Canadian court called. This is quite an amazing theory, and you can read the relevant David Corn writings from his own article, explaining the details of his conspiracy theory below. Its easier to believe there was U.S. complicity in the 9-11 attacks, than such a crazy theory. Surprisingly, Corn admits in his article that he didn't even research the facts when he disputed the Vreeland story. He only came up with his Conspiracy Theory after he needed to save face.

"My article discounted their claims. But, I discovered, the two men had a loyal--and vocal--following. They were being booked on Pacifica stations. Ruppert was selling a video and giving speeches around the world. (In February, he filled a theater in Sacramento.) I decided to take a second--and deeper--look at the pair and key pieces of the 9/11 conspiracy movement. "

Norman Solomon of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) is also part of this conspiracy theory. In his piece "Media and the Hazards of Political Faith," he dismisses Vreeland's warning note because it names 9-11 targets that were not destroyed, such as in Chicago, Ottawa, and Toronto. What Norman Solomon seemed to have missed is that the BBC on Oct 14, 2001, reported that "Air Canada says that one of its airliners that was due to fly from Toronto to New York on 11 September was subsequently found to have knives concealed on board." CNN articles dated September 23, 2001, show more boxcutters planted on planes in areas mentioned in Vreeland's note. It seems Normon, like David Corn, wanted to dismiss the whole idea without even doing research. What are these supposed "media guardians" so afraid of? Normon states in his article not to trust corporate media, but it seems you should only trust FAIR. "But those who, with good reason, refuse to trust the corporate media are scarcely better off when they lower their standards to buy into dubious claims from alternative sources." But, Normon, maybe an informed citizenry should trust their own judgment?

The whole David Corn article can be found here:
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=66

Read pieces of David Corn's article, and decide whether or not the Nation should be entrusted as a guardian for the people anymore than the New York Times or Washington Post.

Vreeland claims that in Moscow he worked with a Canadian Embassy employee named Marc Bastien. Unfortunately, this cannot be confirmed by Bastien. He was found dead in Moscow on December, 12, 2000--while Vreeland was in jail in Toronto. At the time of his death, Canadian authorities announced Bastien died of natural causes, but Vreeland later claimed Bastien had been murdered. Then, this past January, the Quebec coroner said Bastein died after drinking a mixture of alcohol and clopazine, an antidepressant, and he noted that Bastien may have been poisoned--or may have been offered the medication to fight a hangover. Had Vreeland really known something about this death, or had he made a good guess about a fellow whose death was covered in the Canadian media?

And during a courtroom proceeding, at Vreeland's insistence, the judge allowed his counsel to place a call to the Pentagon. The operator who answered confirmed that a Lieutenant D. Vreeland was listed in the phone directory. Afterward, Canadian prosecutors claimed that information from the US government indicated that a person purporting to be Lieutenant D. Vreeland had earlier sent an e-mail to a telephone operator at the Pentagon, saying he would temporarily be occupying a Pentagon office and requesting that this be reflected in the listings. Could a fellow in a Toronto jail have scammed the Pentagon telephone system?

It is easier to believe that a well-versed con man got lucky with the Bastien death/murder, was able to arrange a stunt with the Pentagon switchboard and either wrote a sketchy note before September 11 that could be interpreted afterward as relevant or penned the note following the disaster and convinced prison guards he had written it previously.

Read more on Vreeland, see the documents, and hear recordings